Of the $66 million damage estimate determined for Utah by USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, $3.2 million has already been released. The additional $62.8 million approved in the House provides the balance of the $66 million estimate.

The bill will allow local financial and technical resources, including in-kind materials and services contributed in the immediate flood aftermath, to count toward the agency's 25 percent local match requirement.

Washington County Emergency Services Director Dean Cox said the money would be put to good use as quickly as possible.

"We didn't lose those houses in January to the floods. We lost them to the instability of the riverbanks and erosion," said Cox. "I still think we have a lot of danger with bank erosion, and we're not out of the woods yet on flooding, either."

Even though tons of rock and other material now line sections of the Santa Clara River as a barrier against future flooding, there are many vulnerable spots along the Virgin River in need of the same attention.

"One thing I've learned from the January floods is that you never know what will happen," Cox said. "If someone would have told me on Jan. 5 what was going to happen over the following week, I would have thought they were crazy. We are taking the storm this weekend, and every storm that comes our way, really seriously."

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E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com